I need your vegetarian Swedish recipes!
May 12, 2013 1:18 PM Subscribe
It's Eurovision time again which means that as per tradition I need to serve foods from the host country with flags stuck in them. This years it's Sweden, which has not produced, I am sad to say, a bounty of foods that I would like to or can eat; hence I'm looking for recipes. Catch: I'm vegetarian and the food should be able to have a flag stuck in it and not require a huge number of specialist ingredients. Recommendations for Swedish style cocktails also appreciated.
Vegetarian meatballs? (Frozen available in any good hippie store)
Lingonberry pancakes?
Hasselback potatoes?
posted by bitter-girl.com at 1:25 PM on May 12, 2013
Lingonberry pancakes?
Hasselback potatoes?
posted by bitter-girl.com at 1:25 PM on May 12, 2013
Seconding Swedish pancakes with lingonberries. You can get mixes for those. Or Swedish-style cinnamon rolls like the ones they serve at Ann Sather in Chicago. I don't know how authentic they are, but if this recipe is anywhere near as good as the ones at AS, I assure you no one will mind.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:28 PM on May 12, 2013
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:28 PM on May 12, 2013
This is going to be hard, you know. I have been touring with a vegetarian in Sweden for many years, and the only thing she ever could order in restaurants was mixed vegetables from the wok, and vegetarian pizza.
So, yes. Kanelbullar. Ris a la Malta. Prinsesstårta. And a Swedish plate of beans.
posted by Namlit at 1:29 PM on May 12, 2013
So, yes. Kanelbullar. Ris a la Malta. Prinsesstårta. And a Swedish plate of beans.
posted by Namlit at 1:29 PM on May 12, 2013
Best answer: Here are some Sexy Swedish Buns from Jamie Oliver, complete with video.
Here are some vegan semlor.
And here are 9 Swedish vegan recipes, complete with vegan Jansson's Temptation
posted by Wylla at 1:29 PM on May 12, 2013
Here are some vegan semlor.
And here are 9 Swedish vegan recipes, complete with vegan Jansson's Temptation
posted by Wylla at 1:29 PM on May 12, 2013
Best answer: Something that I've never seen outside Sweden is smörgåstårta (literally "sandwich cake"). Apparently they're often not vegetarian, but I can see no reason you can't make a vegetarian version and it would require no special ingredients. Here's a page with some pictures of what they can look like and links to recipes.
posted by bjrn at 1:29 PM on May 12, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by bjrn at 1:29 PM on May 12, 2013 [3 favorites]
My boyfriend's sister-in-law is from Sweden and she makes Johnson's Temptation (one with and one without the anchovies) for holidays as well as cinnamon rolls like these .
posted by jabes at 1:30 PM on May 12, 2013
posted by jabes at 1:30 PM on May 12, 2013
...and here are some Karelian Pasties - a Finnish food, but widely available and eaten in Sweden - also with video.
The 9 recipes link above also has a vegan smörgåstårta for bjrn's suggestion.
posted by Wylla at 1:33 PM on May 12, 2013
The 9 recipes link above also has a vegan smörgåstårta for bjrn's suggestion.
posted by Wylla at 1:33 PM on May 12, 2013
Um, this is totally not actually Swedish, but for an IKEA themed birthday party one year, we had plentiful Cinnamon Roll shots. It's just a shot glass filled almost all the way with Irish Cream, with just a bit of cinnamon schnapps. Sounds gross, tastes delicious. I am confident you could also make this into a cocktail. It's not very alcoholic.
posted by itsamermaid at 1:38 PM on May 12, 2013
posted by itsamermaid at 1:38 PM on May 12, 2013
Kladdkaka?
Cocktails: something with punsch.
posted by zamboni at 1:40 PM on May 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
Cocktails: something with punsch.
posted by zamboni at 1:40 PM on May 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: As a Swede, I am heartily seconding the Swedish pancakes (so good with berries and cream), the kladdkaka, and of course the smörgåstårta. Just thinking about their deliciousness makes me hungry! There's also plenty of tasty-looking vegetarian Swedish recipes on this blog.
posted by harujion at 2:03 PM on May 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by harujion at 2:03 PM on May 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
Stuvad potatis -- potatoes stewed in cream -- is simple and lovely.
posted by kmennie at 2:22 PM on May 12, 2013
posted by kmennie at 2:22 PM on May 12, 2013
Best answer: A Swedish girl I knew told me that all Swedish children regularly make and love these chocolate ball thingies. Easy and perfectly flaggable.
posted by fingersandtoes at 2:37 PM on May 12, 2013
posted by fingersandtoes at 2:37 PM on May 12, 2013
Best answer: I just thought of another one: Baked/jacket potatoes, "Bakad potatis" (google image search results). In Sweden the most common filling is seafood based, but as with the smögåstårta you can exchange it for cheese & veggies or whatever you prefer. Cottage cheese might be a fairly common filling too (I'm not totally sure). You'd need fairly large potatoes, but other than that no special ingredients.
You could also make or buy (if you have an IKEA near you) tunnbröd, which is a Swedish rye-based flatbread. Or you can cheat and buy tortillas (maybe cut them into rectangles). The filling isn't traditionally vegetarian (as you may have guessed), a common one being mashed potatoes, hot dogs and some sort of creamy goo which is then called a "tunnbrödsrulle" (google image search results). But I remember eating a really tasty vegetarian one which had a spicy chickpea puree, shredded cheese, salad and sprouts (maybe some other vegetables too), but just throw in what you like and say it's Swedish. But if you want to be more "authentic" I guess you could have mashed potatoes and veggie dogs, but I'd go for taste over authenticity.
As for the sweet stuff, I think most have already been covered by others: kladdkaka is great and I think the description in the post linked above has it right that it should be sort of like a brownie but thinner and stickier. "kladdig" roughly translates to "sticky". Those chocolate ball thingies are also really easy to make.
And then cocktails... well, traditional Swedish spirits are akvavit and punch (mentioned above). Absolut Vodka is one of the largest brands of alcohol in the world (technically they are French owned these days though). I remember drinking elder flower juice as a child in Sweden (I'm sure juice isn't the right word because it's made from flowers, but you get the idea), if you can get your hands on elder flower juice/syrup/etc you could use that to make drinks with.
Good luck!
posted by bjrn at 3:31 PM on May 12, 2013
You could also make or buy (if you have an IKEA near you) tunnbröd, which is a Swedish rye-based flatbread. Or you can cheat and buy tortillas (maybe cut them into rectangles). The filling isn't traditionally vegetarian (as you may have guessed), a common one being mashed potatoes, hot dogs and some sort of creamy goo which is then called a "tunnbrödsrulle" (google image search results). But I remember eating a really tasty vegetarian one which had a spicy chickpea puree, shredded cheese, salad and sprouts (maybe some other vegetables too), but just throw in what you like and say it's Swedish. But if you want to be more "authentic" I guess you could have mashed potatoes and veggie dogs, but I'd go for taste over authenticity.
As for the sweet stuff, I think most have already been covered by others: kladdkaka is great and I think the description in the post linked above has it right that it should be sort of like a brownie but thinner and stickier. "kladdig" roughly translates to "sticky". Those chocolate ball thingies are also really easy to make.
And then cocktails... well, traditional Swedish spirits are akvavit and punch (mentioned above). Absolut Vodka is one of the largest brands of alcohol in the world (technically they are French owned these days though). I remember drinking elder flower juice as a child in Sweden (I'm sure juice isn't the right word because it's made from flowers, but you get the idea), if you can get your hands on elder flower juice/syrup/etc you could use that to make drinks with.
Good luck!
posted by bjrn at 3:31 PM on May 12, 2013
Dammsugare are tasty if you can get your hands on marzipan easily. Just use rum instead of punsch.
Kåldolmar can be made with mushrooms and rice instead of meat and rice. Or some sort of meat analogue crumbles.
posted by elsietheeel at 4:06 PM on May 12, 2013
Kåldolmar can be made with mushrooms and rice instead of meat and rice. Or some sort of meat analogue crumbles.
posted by elsietheeel at 4:06 PM on May 12, 2013
Best answer: I think you need Smörgåstårta, a layered cake of white spongy bread with different creamy fillings inbetween, which is served as a festive main course. There is often tuna or shrimps in some of the layers, but you can make an all-vegetarian one as well.
Another delicious main course is Raggmunkar, potato pancakes similar to rösti, served with lingonberries and optional pork.
My cocktail of choice would be Vargtass ("wolf's foot"), which is vodka and lingonberry juice in arbitrary proportions. You can substitute for cranberry if lingonberry juice is hard to get by, but then you probably need Absolut vodka or moonshine for the drink to maintain its swedish character.
posted by springload at 5:54 PM on May 12, 2013
Another delicious main course is Raggmunkar, potato pancakes similar to rösti, served with lingonberries and optional pork.
My cocktail of choice would be Vargtass ("wolf's foot"), which is vodka and lingonberry juice in arbitrary proportions. You can substitute for cranberry if lingonberry juice is hard to get by, but then you probably need Absolut vodka or moonshine for the drink to maintain its swedish character.
posted by springload at 5:54 PM on May 12, 2013
Best answer: If you have an IKEA near you, I would head that way and pick up stuff from their food section. I personally love anything with lingonberries, but those crispy oatmeal sandwich cookies with the chocolate are my crack.
Bond-Ost cheese with or without caraway :)
Swedish Festive Drink!
Swedish Fish ;)
posted by Madamina at 7:48 PM on May 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
Bond-Ost cheese with or without caraway :)
Swedish Festive Drink!
Swedish Fish ;)
posted by Madamina at 7:48 PM on May 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions! I think I may go for sandwich cake. It looks terrifying, but intriguing. :) Plus there's space for several flags, which is critical. I am never happier than when sticking flags in things for Eurovision.
posted by lesbiassparrow at 8:54 PM on May 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by lesbiassparrow at 8:54 PM on May 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
Where are you getting the flags?
I went to Ikea and bought a bunch of things there for our Eurovision party.
They have potato and broccoli cakes, swedish pancakes, and candy. (I'm doing the meatballs and taters thing myself.) I also made braised purple cabbage.
I'm also doing little canapes. Squares of pumpernickel bread, with cream cheese, smoked salmon and dill, or mini, deconstructed deviled egg. Like that there.
I'm also doing salmon with some of the Ikea sauces.
The lady at the cash register thought I was a nut, but she was acutally Swedish and vetted my choices.
I'm rooting for Denmark, but I suspect that Germany will win it with their Euphoria sound-alike song.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 6:35 AM on May 13, 2013
I went to Ikea and bought a bunch of things there for our Eurovision party.
They have potato and broccoli cakes, swedish pancakes, and candy. (I'm doing the meatballs and taters thing myself.) I also made braised purple cabbage.
I'm also doing little canapes. Squares of pumpernickel bread, with cream cheese, smoked salmon and dill, or mini, deconstructed deviled egg. Like that there.
I'm also doing salmon with some of the Ikea sauces.
The lady at the cash register thought I was a nut, but she was acutally Swedish and vetted my choices.
I'm rooting for Denmark, but I suspect that Germany will win it with their Euphoria sound-alike song.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 6:35 AM on May 13, 2013
Response by poster: I went to a flag shop, which luckily exists here. Sadly they had a limited array for miniature European flags, but some were obtained. I've also opted to use food coloring to recreate others in various canapé things.
posted by lesbiassparrow at 9:43 PM on May 16, 2013
posted by lesbiassparrow at 9:43 PM on May 16, 2013
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Also Swedish kanelbullar or cinnamon rolls.
Anything with lingonberry jam is also a good option.
posted by brainmouse at 1:24 PM on May 12, 2013